The Emperor and the Wolf

More about the book

Akira Kurosawa was the greatest of Japanese directors, acclaimed by Steven Spielberg as 'the pictorial Shakespeare of our time'. Toshiro Mifune was the incomparable actor whose screen presence carried Kurosawa's work around the world. Mifune starred in 16 of Akira Kurosawa's 30 films, including Rashomon, The Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood and Yojimbo. Together they are as indelible a cinematic pairing as John Ford and John Wayne, Ingmar Bergman and Max Von Sydow, Scorsese and De Niro. Kurosawa has influenced numerous film-makers, whilst Mifune's screen persona (an ill-kempt warrior-rogue) has been reflected in Hollywood heroes from Clint Eastwood to Bruce Willis. Stuart Galbraith's book details the production and reception of their films together, and is filled with biographical and behind-the-scenes information about their tumultuous lives and stormy relationships, with the studios and with each other.